The Outsiders - One shots + Headcanons !

Dry Drowning Part 3

A/N: Once again, I'm really sorry for finishing this so late (I also had a week-long hyperfixation on Coco so that didn't help 😶). But I recently got an idea for a one-shot/new au and I wanted to finish this up quicker so I could start that! I have a super long Christmas break so I'll definitely be working I swear 😭 BUT THANK YOU FOR OVER 1000 VIEWS??? THAT'S ACTUALLY CRAZY (on ao3)

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When I woke up again, it was dark, and I found myself in my bedroom. The room was dimly lit by the desk lamp that was easy on my eyes and sore head. I noticed that the throbbing in my head had alleviated, probably through the Advil I had taken earlier in the day, but my chest felt oddly heavy and the thick blanket was almost suffocating. My stomach felt uneasy and my throat was still sore and my nose was still stuffy and everything was awful. My eyes were heavy, and as much as I wanted to sink into the mattress and sleep for the next week, I gradually pushed myself up and pushed the blankets off my legs. The soreness in my legs and arms was persistent, and the light nausea I felt when I first woke worsened as I sat up straighter. My body was freezing in contrast to the heat of the blankets that were on me seconds ago, and I could feel the sweat on my forehead. Groaning, I gingerly planted my feet onto the cold hardwood floor, and the butterflies in my stomach may as well have turned to birds and I knew I only had a few seconds to make it to the bathroom.

I made my way down the hallway as fast as I could, barging through the door and concisely grateful that I hadn't been flashed by anybody. I swung the door shut behind me and fell to my knees in front of the toilet. My throat burned as the food from the night before came back up and my hands clutched onto the sides of the cool porcelain seat desperately. My eyes began to water and I squeezed them tight as my stomach continued to force up more bile that wasn't there, leaving me dry heaving and coughing. My head pounded and my whole body ached with effort, but luckily my stomach was beginning to calm. I reached up to flush the toilet and then rested my warm forehead against the rim of the seat. Now more aware than before, I realized a pair of hands were rubbing up and down my arms and back.

Still breathing heavily, I lifted my head and looked to my left and saw my oldest brother at my side rubbing me soothingly, his face guilt-ridden and his appearance disheveled. He smiled sadly when I looked over at him and he squeezed my shoulders.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked quietly, his cold blue eyes seemingly warm.

"No," I responded miserably, and Darry looked like he could kick himself. I smiled at that. "I think I'm okay now, though."

"Yeah? Good. You want water?" I nodded, and he helped me stand just to sit me on the closed lid of the toilet instead of the floor.

I observed him as he stood at the small sink next to the toilet, filling a small translucent cup with water. He looked as tired as ever, especially with his hair undone and dressed in lazy clothes. He had bags under his eyes and his hands feebly grasped the little cup as he held it under the faucet. To put it frankly, he looked like he was coming down with something just as much as I did, but I knew it was only stress. He gets that way occasionally, when something is bothering him, like when he was at risk of being let go at work a couple of months ago because his boss could only have so many on the team, and not everyone was good enough. He didn't end up getting fired, but it was still distressing during that week. He looked similar to how he did at that moment, hair disheveled and bags under his eyes, with that semi-permanent troubled look pasted to his face.

He kept glancing at me throughout the few seconds it took to fill the cup until he switched the water off and turned to me. He handed me the cup and I grasped it weakly as he lay a comforting hand atop my head. I gulped it down greedily and handed it back to Darry, who took it from me and threw it in the small trash bin in the corner of the bathroom.